


A Moment Worth Fighting For

by Mysticeyes2987



Category: Marvel, Young Avengers
Genre: Bombs, Guns, M/M, multiple character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-25
Updated: 2012-04-25
Packaged: 2017-11-04 07:12:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/391169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysticeyes2987/pseuds/Mysticeyes2987
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Sometimes the inevitable happens sooner than we think. But it’s times like these that remind us just how human we all really are. That no matter how strong our powers are, no matter how much we try or even how many times we try, that inevitable moment where our powers are unable to make that single miracle happen comes, and we are faced with that impossible decision.</p><p>This was one of those times…”</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment Worth Fighting For

**Author's Note:**

> Soundtracks: "Arise" - E.S. Posthumus, "Die Trying" - Art of Dying

_ “Sometimes the inevitable happens sooner than we think. But it’s times like these that remind us just how human we all really are. That no matter how strong our powers are, no matter how much we try or even how many times we try, that inevitable moment where our powers are unable to make that single miracle happen comes, and we are faced with that impossible decision. _

_ This was one of those times….” _

It had started out as a normal day. They always did. The world woke up, made coffee, had breakfast, and turned on the news to watch the headlines and the weather. Adults went to work, and kids headed to school. Usual day, just like the last. But in their world, the peace that always came with the morning didn’t always last too long. Something would happen in which shook the foundation of the population. An alien attack, a couple of robbers. But in today’s case, a bombing. Two bombs had already gone off around the city, all within a three mile radius of each other. Eli and Kate were working on the third while Cassie, Billy, Teddy and Tommy helped with the survivors as well as clean up. They all should have noticed the signs, or at least that something was off. Billy should have noticed. However, they all had been too worried about getting everyone out to do so. 

He sensed that something was wrong when he felt the brush of Tommy dashing past him, felt the earth shake with something that wasn’t a bomb but something else entirely. Something that would have sent him flying if he hadn’t gotten the shield up around him and the couple he was helping up in time. The sonic blast seemed to have come out of nowhere, rocking the world around them for a moment before all time stopped. Billy had turned towards the direction of the wave just in time to hear the softer explosion, just in time to see Tommy fall. 

“NO!” The cry left his lips as he watched the boy fall. His teammate, his brother, his twin. The shield of light instantly fell as he ran to his brother’s side. “No....Tommy. God, no.” Billy knelt beside him, hands hovering over his brother’s body as he took in the single gunshot wound to the temple. That’s what the blast was for, he thought sickly. To make Tommy stop for long enough for the bullet to kill him.

  **“Iwant-thewoundtoh-healIwant-thewoundtohealIw-wantthewoundt-toheal.”**

 Even though the more rational part of his mind knew that his brother was already dead, Billy couldn’t help the spell that fell through his lips between the sobs of panic in some sort of attempt to try and bring his brother back. He barely noticed when Teddy dropped next to him, his large green hand covering Billy’s glowing ones. 

_ “There are moments in time, I feel, that are destined to happen. They are fixed in the timeline of our universe that cannot be changed. That even if I were to go back, an event far worse would take its place.” _

“It’s too late, Billy. He’s gone.” Teddy whispered softly, gently pulling Billy’s hands away from their place over Tommy. 

  
“NO! I can fix this! I can-”

“No, Bee. There is nothing you can do. Trying to bring him back will only kill you too.” But Billy wasn’t listening. Through the panic and the grief his mind quickly thought of a way he could fix this. 

“I can fix this, Teddy. And I will.” Billy glanced at his boyfriend once more, determination warring with panic and grief. And before he or anyone else could say anything, the spell flew from his lips. 

**“IwanttogobackIwantotgobackIwanttogoback.”**

“No, Billy, do-” Teddy’s words were cut off as white filled his vision. There was a split second of silence before the battle sounds shattered it. Billy recognized the scene, only minutes before Tommy’s death. He saw Eli and Kate still beside the bank; dealing with what they all hoped was the last bomb. And then he saw the dark green blur, pause and Tommy came into focus, hands on his hips and looking around to see if any other people needed to be transported to the hospital. But when Tommy looked over in his direction, blue eyes widening before he blurred again, running towards where Billy stood. 

“Tommy Stop!” Billy’s arm reached out and somehow managed to catch Tommy’s arm and bulling him back. Tommy looked over at his brother shocked and annoyed. 

“LetgoorelseAltman’sgoingto-“ The words stopped as the gun fired. Billy’s eyes narrowed in confusion as Tommy shook him off roughly and ran around the bus that was parked beside the road. There was the sound of Tommy disabling the gunman before the green blurr rushed over to where Hulkling was last seen. It took two seconds for Billy to follow him, but once he rounded the bus he froze, not wanting to believe the scene before him. 

“Crap....Can’t you heal around it?” Tommy asked as he stood between the small family and Teddy. Hulking chuckled weakly.

“Not this time..”

_ “It’s something I have had to come to accept that even with my powers there will always be that moment, that single time I will be reminded that with all my power, all my knowledge and will, that I am no more a god than anyone else. That I am just a human being with all the faults, weaknesses and shortcomings that being human comes with.”  _

“TEDDY!” Billy ran and crouched beside his boyfriend’s form, his eyes zeroing in to the single gunshot wound to the chest. God it wasn’t supposed to be like this. He was supposed to save Tommy. But Tommy was trying to save Teddy. Only Billy hadn’t noticed in time and now it was too late. **“ _IwantthewoundtohealIwantthewoundtoheal._ ”** His hands were blinding with the amount of power that was surging through his veins, trying so hard to help Teddy’s natural healing ability along before blood loss became an issue. But Teddy reached up and took Billy’s hands, a soft smile on his lips. 

“Stop, Billy. Save... your strength.” Teddy’s voice was barely discernable over the sounds of the sirens that echoed in the streets. 

“No, Teddy, I can save you. Let me-”

“No, Bee, you can’t. Not this time.” Teddy’s smile softened. “Save your strength. There are others – who need it more – than me.” Billy could already feel Teddy’s hand weakening, his fingers losing their strength and warmth. 

“No....Please, Teddy-”

“Promise me.” Teddy cut him off before trying to clear his throat. It was a sick sound that only made Billy want to disregard what Teddy was asking. Screw Teddy being mad at him forever. It didn’t mean anything if Teddy was alive. They would work it out somehow. “Promise me, Billy.” They were wasting time. This was foolish. But Billy looked into his boyfriends eyes, saw fierce determination and calm acceptance there, as well as an underlying fear. The moment of aid had slipped away and now it was too late. Billy bit his lip as he nodded; his heart feeling like it was breaking into a million pieces. 

“I promise.” Teddy’s smile brightened for a moment, his lips moving to try and say something but he couldn’t push it through his lips. But Billy had seen his boyfriends lips move in that same pattern hundreds of times before. He didn’t have time to say those three words in return before Teddy’s eyes closed and his fingers became limp in Billy’s.It was getting harder and harder to keep the sobs back, the lump in his throat swelling and burning. 

Billy barely noticed when Eli and Kate joined them. He hadn’t noticed Cassie there, hand covering her mouth with her own tears upon her cheeks until after the last two had arrived. Their friends’ celebration of their victory was shattered when they realized what their victory had cost. Billy could barely see anything past the tears that were streaming down his cheeks in endless rivers. His life suddenly seemed to stretch out before him, empty, desolate and alone. He never wanted to let go of Teddy’s hands, but he forced them to move and set Teddy’s hands down gently. 

“I can fix this.” He stated too calmly as he stood, his eyes never tearing away from Teddy’s form. 

“How?! How can you fix this, Kaplan?!” Tommy snapped, gesturing wildly to Teddy. “You can’t bring him back! You aren’t God! You’re not the kind of mutant that was graced with the abilities to bring back the dead! Even you are not that powerful.” Billy looked levelly at his brother, his twin in another life. 

“I can fix this.” He said again, voice broken but determined. “I can go back and save him.”

_ “To my family and friends, I know this will be hard for you. But I also know that through each other you will find the strength to move on. That you will be able to find peace and happiness within each other and find the light within this time of darkness.” _

“Billy, you promised him that you would save your strength. You know how a spell like that can drain you. “ Cassie murmured. “I know this is hard for you but-”

“I can’t live without him, Cassie.” Billy stated softly. “I just can’t. I know I promised but I have to try.” He looked down at his boyfriend’s face again. “I can’t live with myself knowing that I didn’t try.” Eli shook his head. 

“I don’t like this Billy. Something doesn’t feel right.” Billy’s gaze shifted from Cassie to Eli. He was determined to set things right. It was his fault that this had happened in the first place. If he had never come back in time, if he had never saved Tommy. If he had noticed that there was something wrong with the situation in the first place, none of this would have happened. He hadn’t been paying attention, and his loved ones were now paying the price for it. 

_ “And Teddy. I know that this will be the hardest on you and I hope that one day you can bring yourself to forgive me. Please believe me when I say that there was no other way. I wish more than anything that I could be with you right now, just sitting there with your arms around me. But please don’t hold back because of me. I will always be with you, but please live out your life as you would want to live it. As I want you to live it.”  _

“I’m going back.” he stated firmly, not willing to take no for an answer. Tommy scoffed as he continued to pace. 

“Let him go. If he wants to go off and play the hero, than let him.” 

“Tommy.” Kate hissed disapprovingly.. They had all lost a valuable teammate and friend today. Out of all of them, Teddy’s death will hit Billy the hardest. There was no reason for Tommy to make matters worse by being crude.

“What? It’s his fault that his boyfriend is dead. If he hadn’t stopped me-”

“You would have died.” Billy cut him off, dark eyes glaring into blue. 

“NO I wouldn’t have! Or else have you forgotten that I am a speedster. I am faster than any bullet Man has created. I would have gotten to him before he could have even fired the first shot!”

“NO, Tommy. You would have died because right as you would have stepped in line with the gun there would have been a sonic blast strong enough to make you pause for long enough for the bullet to hit you in your left temple. You would have instantly died.” He didn’t care if he shocked the rest of them with the gruesome details. Teddy’s death was too fresh, too raw for Billy to even think about being anything but blunt. “I know this because I came back in time trying to say you, and Teddy……Teddy died instead.” Billy looked away from his brother to his boyfriend, feeling the pain and sadness threatening to overtake him again. 

“So how do you know that going back in time again will work?” Cassie Asked softly, as if she was afraid of what might happen if she broke the tense silence. Billy simply shook his head. 

“I don’t. But I am willing to go back as many times as it takes to make this right.”

“Don’t you remember the last time someone went back in time to try and change his future?”Eli interjected. “What if you go back and something does happen? Something that you can’t fix?” He stepped closer to Billy, and rested a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “I know that out of all of us, you will miss him the most. But there are some things that you just can’t change, Billy.” Billy’s face hardened as his eyes closed. He hated that they were right. Hated himself for what he was about to do. But he refused to live in a world where Teddy didn’t exist. Even if Teddy hated him and never spoke to him again for this, it was better than not having teddy there at all.

**“IwanttogobackIwanttogobackIwanttogoback.”**

“Billy NO-” 

_ Even though I can say to you ‘Please don’t blame yourselves’ I know that in these moments you will think ‘If only I had done this, or said that’ But I promise you it would not have changed anything. For the lives of the many to survive, sometimes it takes the sacrifices of the few.  _

Eli’s cry was drowned out by the sirens, the roaring in his ears, the screams and cries of the wounded and those who fought to protect them. He turned and looked, knowing he only had a matter of seconds before Tommy saw Teddy’s danger. If he saved Teddy, then Tommy wouldn’t have a reason to jump in front of the gun, therefore saving both of their lives. No wasting any time, he ran to Teddy, and pulled him and the small family out of the way, feeling relief as he watched the gunman shoot but hit the buss instead. 

  
“Billy what are you doing?” Teddy asked as he instinctively wrapped an arm around Billy. 

“I’m saving you and Tommy’s-” His words cut off as the third bomb exploded from behind him, Billy just barely managing to get the shield up in time around the five of them before the heat and shockwave hit them. He paled as he and Teddy came to the same conclusion and scrambled away from the bus to try and help Tommy find Kate and Eli, but it was too late. The building had completely collapsed around them, crushing them beneath tons of iron, steel and concrete.Billy could do nothing but stare at the wreckage before him, Eli’s words echoing in his head. In trying to save two lives, Fate had taken two others away. 

Fate, Billy was just now learning, was a cruel mistress. But he was determined. There had to be a way to save them all. He just hadn’t found it yet. But he would go back as many times as it took. The sounds, the smells, the feelings of hope and panic and hopelessness were always the same. No matter whom it was he tried to save, the result was always the same. Eli, Kate, Cassie, Tommy, Teddy. No matter what he did, someone always died. Sometimes it was just one person, other times it was two or more. But the end result was always the same. Finally, Looking down at Cassie’s broken body that had been crushed by the debris of the collapsed building; he came to a single conclusion. He finally understood how he could save them all.

**“IwanttogobacktobeforeIwanttogobacktobeforeIwanttogobacktobefore.”**

There was a flash of white, but this time it was different. This time, there were no screams or sirens echoing in the air. The putrid smell of fires didn’t flood his nose, the feelings of panic horror hope and helplessness didn’t flood his veins. There was no other sound besides the soft breaths of Teddy sleeping beside him. Billy turned and studied his boyfriend’s sleeping face for a long moment, a smile pulling at his lips as he curled closer into the warm body of his boyfriend. He had wished himself roughly around two weeks before the awful incident. That would give him plenty of time. 

He spent the next two weeks spending as much time with his friends and family as he could. He put on a smile that even he had a hard time seeing through the tears, and made sure that no one had even the slightest clue as to what he was up to. But then again, he never factored in Teddy’s intusion. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Teddy asked as Billy put another movie in. After pushing the disc into the player Billy straightened and frowned, the look of obvious confusion on his face. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“You’ve been acting weird for the past two weeks now. I can’t for the life of me figure out why so I’m asking.” Billy’s frown deepened slightly, making it look like he was thinking too hard when he was really starting to get worried. Today was the last day of peace. The last day before his plan came into action. The last day….. But Billy’s frown melted into a small smile as he shrugged and retook his seat beside his boyfriend. 

“There’s nothing wrong, Teddy.” Teddy didn’t look convinced; his full lips were pulled into a deeper frown than before. 

“Billy you haven’t had one argument with Tommy. Not to mention the fact that you don’t say a word every time he does something that I _know_ irritates you. That alone means that there is something wrong.”

“So I’ve stopped adding to the creation of conflict. Is that such a bad thing?”

“Not bad per say.” Teddy started, then stopped to try and gather the feelings he couldn’t seem to put into words. “It’s just that you have never been this passive before and added to the fact that no matter what the others ask, you automatically do it, it’s just….you’re acting weird.” Billy had once been grateful that Teddy could see through him like he was made of glass and understand him completely. But now, now when things were so close to becoming right again, he secretly wished that he could fool Teddy. Just this once. So he tried another tactic. 

“Really, I have no idea what you are talking about.” Billy sighed, slipping over to straddle Teddy’s waist. Even as Teddy’s hands went to cup his hips, Teddy himself still didn’t look convinced. 

“Whatever it is, you can tell me, Bee. I’m not going anywhere.” 

“There is no it, Teddy. Really, I’m fine. Now stop worrying about nothing and kiss me.” Billy smiled as he leaned in to the point where he could feel the other’s breath against his lips. He could almost feel Teddy’s responding smirk against his own. 

“What about the movie?”

“Who cares about the movie, just shut up already and kiss me.” Billy whispered, the movie being completely ignored as Teddy did exactly what he commanded. He lived the last day he had with those he loved the most. Making sure to fill every memory with light. 

And when the fateful afternoon arrived, Billy was ready. He knew every scenario, every outcome, every second of that late afternoon. So when Tommy noticed Teddy’s peril, and came dashing to the rescue, Billy was already there, ready to stop his brother,and ready to give Teddy one more smile, and mouthed the three words that he could sayto Teddy forever before the sound of the gun firing turned everything to black. 

_ Today, I have been forced to leave you, as much as I longed to stay. But please know that I...... this is my choice in order to save the people I love. My sacrifice will not be in vain if my friends, my family, and the people of this city will be able to continue to see their loved ones. Even if it is for a moment longer. It is this moment I long to preserve. This moment that is most precious and should be treasured no matter what. _

He sat there, eyes glued to the small machine before him on the desk, arms crossed over his chest. Blonde hair that was still mostly slicked back from the funeral that had finished hours ago began to slip from its confines to fall into his eyes. The blue tie around his neck had been loosened but not yet undone. The anger was still there. The anger that came from the knowledge that not only had Billy blatantly lied to him countless times, but that Teddy hadn’t seen past his boyfriend’s façade to realize what was really going on boiled beneath the surface, and only made him want to scream, to yell and destroy something. Anything it took to bring Billy back just so he could curse him out and then hug him to death. Every action, every word, every feeling and emotion that Billy had made within the past two weeks all made sense in hindsight.And Teddy felt like an absolute idiot for not noticing it sooner. But he knew it wouldn’t work. More so, he knew that’s not what Billy would have wanted. Billy would have wanted him to be happy. To live his live to the fullest. And even if Teddy knew it was going to be hard, he swore to do it. Now, especially now as he slid the golden band onto his left ring finger, the one that matched the one that adorned Billy’s exactly. And on it were the last words that Billy had ever said. 

_ “This, is the moment worth Dying for.” _


End file.
